view blog online

Translate

Friday, March 20, 2015

Christ knew that one of the saddest things we have to live with on this earth is our loneliness, our sense of expulsion and exile. He knew that when you really love someone, you want to devour them, to become one with them, and you can't do that with another human being. So He did it in the Eucharist.

A reputation for holiness does have some drawbacks. Public recognition can be a nuisance at times—as the confreres of Salvator found out.

Salvator was born during Spain's Golden Age. Art, politics and wealth were flourishing. So was religion. Ignatius of Loyola founded the Society of Jesus in 1540.

Salvator's parents were poor. At the age of 21 he entered the Franciscans as a brother and was soon known for his asceticism, humility and simplicity.

As cook, porter and later the official beggar for the friars in Tortosa, he became well known for his charity. He healed the sick with the Sign of the Cross. When crowds of sick people began coming to the friary to see Salvator, the friars transferred him to Horta. Again the sick flocked to ask his intercession; one person estimated that two thousand people a week came to see Salvator. He told them to examine their consciences, to go to confession and to receive Holy Communion worthily. He refused to pray for those who would not receive those sacraments.

The public attention given to Salvator was relentless. The crowds would sometimes tear off pieces of his habit as relics. Two years before his death, Salvator was moved again, this time to Cagliari on the island of Sardinia. He died at Cagliari saying, "Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit." He was canonized in 1938.

Comment:

Medical science is now seeing more clearly the relation of some diseases to one's emotional and spiritual life. In Healing Life's Hurts, Matthew and Dennis Linn report that sometimes people experience relief from illness only when they have decided to forgive others. Salvator prayed that people might be healed, and many were. Surely not all diseases can be treated this way; medical help should not be abandoned. But notice that Salvator urged his petitioners to reestablish their priorities in life before they asked for healing.

Quote:

"Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness" (Matthew 10:1).

The wicked said among themselves, thinking not aright:"Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us;he sets himself against our doings,Reproaches us for transgressions of the lawand charges us with violations of our training.He professes to have knowledge of Godand styles himself a child of the LORD.To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us,Because his life is not like that of others,and different are his ways.He judges us debased;he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure.He calls blest the destiny of the justand boasts that God is his Father.Let us see whether his words be true;let us find out what will happen to him.For if the just one be the son of God, he will defend himand deliver him from the hand of his foes.With revilement and torture let us put him to the testthat we may have proof of his gentlenessand try his patience.Let us condemn him to a shameful death;for according to his own words, God will take care of him."These were their thoughts, but they erred;for their wickedness blinded them,and they knew not the hidden counsels of God;neither did they count on a recompense of holinessnor discern the innocent souls' reward.

R. (19a) The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.The LORD confronts the evildoers,to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,and from all their distress he rescues them.R. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.Many are the troubles of the just man,but out of them all the LORD delivers him.R. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.He watches over all his bones;not one of them shall be broken.The LORD redeems the lives of his servants;no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.R. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.

Jesus moved about within Galilee;he did not wish to travel in Judea,because the Jews were trying to kill him.But the Jewish feast of Tabernacles was near.

But when his brothers had gone up to the feast,he himself also went up, not openly but as it were in secret.

Some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem said,"Is he not the one they are trying to kill?And look, he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him.Could the authorities have realized that he is the Christ?But we know where he is from.When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from."So Jesus cried out in the temple area as he was teaching and said,"You know me and also know where I am from.Yet I did not come on my own,but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true.I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me."So they tried to arrest him,but no one laid a hand upon him,because his hour had not yet come.

Meditation: John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

4th Week of Lent

You know me. (John 7:28)

Anyone with children, particularly teenagers, has heard it before: "I know." You know they don't know, but you can't convince them of that! The inhabitants of Jerusalem were like that. "We know where he is from" (John 7:27). Actually, they didn't know. But that didn't matter. Nothing could disturb their satisfaction with what they thought they knew. Still, Jesus kept trying to get through to them. Ever faithful, ever patient, he never gave up hope.

Every day, Jesus comes to the "temple" of our own hearts for the very same reason. He wants us to know him. He wants us to know who he is and where he came from. This is the heart of the Christian message. It's not about avoiding sin. It's not about doing good things. It's about knowing the One who has no beginning and no end, whom no eye has seen and no ear has heard. Everything flows from this, and without this knowledge of Christ—this intimate, personal encounter with him—our life of faith becomes weaker and weaker over time.

None of us can know Jesus fully. We're only human, and he is divine! Not to mention, our fallen nature places some veils over us that will be removed only when we enter heaven and see him face-to-face. Still, because his Spirit lives in us, we can grow closer to him every day.

How? First, read about him. Scripture paints a vivid picture of Jesus' character—his kindness and patience, his desire to draw you to himself, his willingness to lay down his life for you. Start a list of what the daily Mass readings say about Jesus, and watch this list grow and deepen as you ponder it.

Second, ask him some questions that will help you know him better. "What were you thinking when ... ?" "Why did you welcome Zacchaeus?" "What would you say to me if you met me at the town well?" Then wait quietly for the Holy Spirit to stir your thoughts or heart.

Finally, write down what you think, feel, or imagine in response to your questions. Keep it with you and ponder it often.

God hasn't changed! He longs for you to know him!

"Lord, open my eyes to see you and my ears to hear you speak this Lent so that I might know you more!"

From the book of Wisdom, sometimes referred to as the "Wisdom of Solomon" we take a prophetic message of good versus evil, of worldliness versus holiness and we hear "Because his life is not like that of others, and different are his ways.....Let us condemn him to a shameful death" and notice the end verse "...These were their thoughts, but they erred; for their wickedness blinded them". The dangerous part is that these thoughts against good are still out there. I was going to say people, but the people are not the problem, but evil is. And evil turns it around so you think people are the problem, and so the world goes around thinking we have people problems, and so things like abortion and killings are in existence. Yet the book of Wisdom speeks and often of the test. It is right and just, for Solomon had been asked by God what he wished and Solomon asked for above all riches, above all things on earth, for the Wisdom, as we read in 1Kings 3:9 "Give your servant, therefore, a listening heart to judge your people and to distinguish between good and evil. For who is able to give judgment for this vast people of yours?" Ah HA! Listen. Just like Solomon asked for something "a listening heart", ooooh so clever, so as to not be blind. Why don't we ask God for what we REALLY need...above all? Perhaps even dare to ask for...faith?!

The Psalms proclaim the life of Christ "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted".

Enough said...he travels to Jerusalem, how can the New Covenant stay away from the tabernacle? Last night we praised God and we were facing the tabernacle in our sanctuary, where inside is the Blessed Sacrament, the body of Christ. I said for all to look at it and know how blessed we are to be able to approach God like never before, and to pray in His Presence, and not even that glass in front of us would keep Him from being with us...the needy, the broken and afflicted. Yet Jesus travels there, to the broken. This upsets me, like the blind people, how can God go to those that don't love Him? Why is it upsetting? Because I won't do the same. You see, most often our afflictions are a lack of love, and above all, a lack of love of God our Father. So I reached out to a couple of people this week to invite them to our praise and prayers for healing night last night. One man, an uncle with cirrhosis of the liver, stage 4 and with tuberculosis to boot. Once I heard of his diseases and ailments, I felt the desire to call him to come for healing. He said thanks for the invitation and he'd try to make it. He did not come, even as we gathered I called him and he said he had things to do and was tired from work. Another man, an older co-worker, I notice he hobbles along with pain all day, he is suffering from a sciatic nerve injury, of which I hear these are very painful things to endure. He is not catholic but I invited him to come to pray and then for prayers for healing. He did not show. As a matter of fact, I think he gave me the worst and yet best excuse (honest) I've heard "oh no, by that time I'll be on my lazy boy at about this level to relax". LOL. Needless to say, he did not show up either. One last couple joined us for prayers for healings in their family and we pray for their granddaughter's auto immune deficiency and another's and an in-law's cancer.

Listen. I am not complaining. How can I complain if I'm with Christ? I merely want you to compare yourself in the story. Who am I? and, "where do I belong?". And who is Jesus? Even the Lord asked "who do you say that I Am?". The answer matters. And don't lie. Don't say He is your King if you are not His servant doing His will. Don't say He is your Father and you do not honor Him. This is not to say we are perfect, we are goofy sometimes (fooled by evil), but God tests the heart and know what is true. And there is only one truth we can live in and depend on and it is Jesus.

Jesus was indeed tested a shameful death, the worst possible of all time, stripped naked, beaten, flesh torn open, spit on, ridiculed and forced to walk like a slave carrying his load atop the mount, whereupon He was mounted on the cross He carried, nailed as if worthless, not even human. And to make sure He was dead, stabbed in the heart. How can the world be so cruel? It is evil isn't it? Evil blinds you and makes you do such things in sin. Because God knows this, He gave the solution...His beloved Love, His Body And Flesh for the life of the world. And it is here and now, in the tabernacle and the Holy Spirit which is Love in action. It is calling you, otherwise you would not have read to this point...let me be one with you

As we prayed in tongues and for prophecy, all spoke, and at the moment I had nothing the Lord spoke "I HAVE SO MUCH MORE IN STORE FOR YOU"